GOP election lawyer Michael Adams announces run for Secretary of State

Constitutional lawyer Michael G. Adams announced his candidacy Thursday for Secretary of State in 2019 — an open seat in 2019, as current Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes is term limited.

Adams, is a western Kentucky native and attended the University of Louisville and Harvard Law School, previously he served as an aide to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Gov. Ernie Fletcher, and as Counsel to the U.S. Deputy Attorney General in President George W. Bush’s administration.

In 2016, Gov. Matt Bevin appointed Adams to the Kentucky State Board of Elections.

“I’m uniquely suited to help make it easy to vote and hard to cheat – to police our elections to ensure they’re free and fair, and to utilize the office of Secretary of State to encourage citizen participation,” Adams said in a news release. “Just as important, I can win: with 25 years of experience helping elect Republicans, in Kentucky and across the country, I know how to build – and finance – a winning campaign. I look forward to meeting Kentuckians across the Commonwealth, telling my story, and asking for their support.”

Former Republican Secretary of State nominee Steve Knipper has also already declared for the 2019 primary. The former Erlanger city council member challenged Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes for the position in the 2015 election cycle losing by 22,310 votes.

Nick Storm

Nick Storm is the Anchor and Managing Editor of Pure Politics available exclusively on Spectrum News. Pure Politics is the only nightly program dedicated to Kentucky politics. Nick covers all of the political heavyweights and his investigative work brings to light issues that might otherwise go unnoticed, like his coverage of the backlog of DNA rape kits waiting to be tested in Kentucky. Nick is also working on a feature length bio documentary Outlaw Poet: A documentary on Ron Whitehead. Pure Politics airs weeknight at 7 and 11:30 on Spectrum News. Follow Nick on Twitter @NStorm_Politics. Nick can be reached at 502-792-1107 or nicholas.storm@charter.com.